In Afghanistan, the Taliban have banned male doctors from treating women

In Afghanistan, unofficial restrictions imposed by the "Taliban" are putting women in desperate and absurd situations when they try to obtain medical care—male doctors have been prohibited from treating them, UNN reports, citing The Guardian.

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The publication tells the story of 37-year-old Farida. One night, the woman woke up with unbearable toothache. Over the next few days, the pain intensified. "My teeth had been decaying for years. The molars on both sides were severely damaged. I could not sleep at night and could barely eat."

Earlier this year, Farida and her family returned from Iran to Herat, a city in western Afghanistan. Like many other migrants forced to return to their homeland, they found it extremely difficult to find work and a source of income. Under such difficult circumstances, visiting a doctor became a luxury, but the pain forced Farida to visit a dental clinic in the Bakrabad district of Herat in early July.

Farida already knew that her teeth were damaged. The dentist who examined her said that several teeth would have to be extracted and replaced with implants or dentures. The clinic prepared a treatment plan for Farida that involved several visits and full prepayment for all services.

However, during her third visit, when the implants were supposed to be fitted, she was told: "We cannot treat you right now. Go home; we will call you ourselves because a certain problem has arisen."

Farida returned home but could not eat or drink properly. Two days later, she called the clinic. They replied that it was no longer possible to complete the treatment. "An order came from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice: male dentists are no longer allowed to treat female patients. If the situation changes, we will call you." Three months have passed, and Farida's treatment remains unfinished.

Although no official announcement has been made about a ban on male dentists treating women, the restriction appears to have spread across the country—this is evidenced by media reports, as well as interviews that The Guardian and Zan Times conducted with women and doctors. Dentists report that the "Taliban" security forces are forcibly enforcing the ban: they conduct raids and warn male doctors that, if female patients are found in their clinics, they face imprisonment. In most provinces, male doctors have received orders and instructions from the "Taliban" prohibiting them from examining female patients. According to doctors, they are forbidden to conduct examinations or provide emergency care to women, except under certain conditions—for example, in the presence of a male guardian (mahram) or if certain procedures are performed by nurses.

"We are prohibited from directly examining female patients because we are not their mahrams. It does not matter how simple the procedure is or how critical the patient's condition may be," says Samim, a surgeon who worked for 15 years at a state hospital in northern Afghanistan.

The ever-tightening bans are reaching new levels of absurdity: in Balkh province in northern Afghanistan, officials have prohibited people from calling female patients by their real names. It was reported that in May, the authorities ordered all hospitals, private practices, and clinics to use the word "Bibi" instead of women's names. They stressed that this instruction must be followed even on medical prescriptions.

Rahima from Kunar province says that one of her relatives, an elderly woman, had to travel hundreds of miles to the city of Kandahar to have her teeth treated because her son ran a dental clinic there. The woman's husband said that all the doctors in Kunar knew him, so visiting a male dentist would have been a disgrace for her.

The restrictions the "Taliban" imposes on women's access to medical care coincide with a ban on women themselves becoming doctors. Since December 2024, women have lost the right to study at medical educational institutions, and doctors at hospitals confirmed that the "Taliban" had prohibited them from hiring women.

The Taliban also require female doctors who continue to practice to be accompanied by a mahram. One patient said that she had to wait for an appointment with a male doctor at a facility where there was no female staff, even though she had arrived with her father. She was told that the doctor was waiting for another patient to arrive with her mahram: if any problems arose, that woman would be able to help, since the doctor himself is forbidden from touching the patient.